Between ORs and Medical School, We Were Bound to Fail
by Rogue Darth Skywalker
Summary: Prequel to Between You and an OR, I'll Take the OR. Padme is in her first year as a surgical intern. Anakin is in his final year of medical school. What happens when their paths cross again after a ten year separation? HIATUS
1. Prolouge

Finally got around to starting this! The hard part about writing a prequel is trying to make the characters seem... younger and to remember that the things that happened in the other story haven't happened yet. I will do my best to keep continuity, but it is possible I might overlook some of the tiny details I mentioned in BYOR. Sorry ahead of time if that happens! After this prologue chapter there will be a bit of a time skip since the first couple weeks/months are pretty uninteresting as far as this story is concerned. Besides, don't we all want to see Anakin come in soon? I know I certainly do!

Enjoy!

-DFD

* * *

Prologue

The sun glowed a light orange as it only just peeked over the horizon. Its rays shimmered across the windows the building that stood before her- calling to her. Padme smiled up at the building from the sidewalk. It was her first day. No longer was she just a medical student, no; today, she is a doctor. Today she starts her surgical internship at Naboo General. It was perfect. One of the finest teaching hospitals in the region and it was just a town away from where she had grown up. Closing her eyes, she imagined all the amazing things she would get to do: transplants, traumas, appendectomies; she could hardly wait.

"Are you just going to stand there?"

Padme opened her eyes and was pleased to see it was only Sabe. They had gone to high school and medical school together along side their other friend Dorme. The three of them had always been inseparable and while Dorme had moved to Coruscant to become a nurse, Padme and Sabe had gone on to become full doctors and eventually surgeons. Padme shook her head, "No, just… taking it in." She said, "Can you believe it? We made it, we actually made it."

Sabe smiled at her, "We made it to the door, now we just have to survive a four year residency."

"Lets get started then." Padme said, a determined look crossing her face as she walked with her head high through the double doors of the hospital.

In the main lobby of the hospital there was already a group of the intern class gathering. She recognized some of them from orientation and while that night was about socializing and making good first impressions on the surgeons they would work under, today was the start of the big game. Today they had to prove they were the best that they deserved to be there.

Not long after their arrival, the chief of surgery came to stand before the large group. Finis Valorum was an older man. His hair already white despite how few wrinkles his skin had. Folding his hands behind his back, he turned and started walking down the corridor, stopping at the end and turning back to them. Without a word, a few of them started to follow and then Valorum turned again and continued down the corridor. Now understanding what he was doing, everyone hurried to follow. It was still early and the ORs were not scheduled for use for another hour or so. The chief led them to OR1 and entered the room, coming to stand just below the window of the observation level. One by one the interns entered, each one looking around either anxiously or excitedly. Valorum eyed each of them as they entered, his blue eyes meeting everyone's, demanding they direct their attention to him without a word. The interns were quick to obey the silent command and the moment it happened he spoke, "Welcome, to Naboo General." He said, "Today marks the first of many challenges you will face in not only your intern year, but all the years to follow. Today you are doctors." A loud cheer started from somewhere in the crowd and soon everyone took up the cheer.

Valorum allowed the excitement for a moment, before he raised his hand to settle them, "At the end of this year, five of you will switch to an easier specialty, and two of you will be asked to leave. Everyone in this room is your competition. If you want to win, be better than them."

Padme glanced at the faces of the interns in the room. Most of them looked like they were ready to fight for their spot as a surgeon, and she looked forward to the challenge they would present her with. At the back of the room, she saw one of the interns shift awkwardly on her feet, her eyes focused on the floor. She didn't recall seeing her at orientation, but based on her reaction she must have just barely gotten into the program. Padme shifted her eyes back to Valorum as he gave out assignments. The girl was no threat to her.

[][][][]

After being assigned lockers and changing into scrubs for the first time, Padme left with her group of four to find the resident they would be working under. Dr. Silya Shessaun waited for them at the nurse's station. Five pagers were laid out neatly beside her next to two stacks of five pocket sized protocol books. At their approach she looks up from her clipboard to greet them, "Pagers, trauma protocol, and phone list. Take one and follow me." She said. The bluntness of her words confused the interns, as she looked nicer than her words. "Lets go." She said as they hesitated for a moment before springing to grab the materials on the counter then quickly moving to follow behind. "To be clear, I am not your friend. I am your mentor, your superior so don't try to be a brownnoser it doesn't work on me, and it certainly won't work on anyone else here." She said, "And to those of you here because of Grey's Anatomy, just go. This is not a TV show where you're going to fall in love with a cute doctor and have all sorts of drama happen. Either you're here to save lives, or you had better run."

Dr. Shessaun led them through the hospital and gave them the basics of how things are done. As the hour got closer to when the ORs open, slowly the hospital came to life around them. They came to a stop just outside where the MRIs were located. Shessaun pulled out her clipboard and read the list over, "Naberrie, Lago," She called, "run labs for the patients in rooms 2436 and 2198. Bring the results straight to me." Padme met the boy, Lago's eyes for a moment. His shock of red hair and the surprised look on his face made him look more a child than a twenty-something year old doctor. "Well?" Shessaun asked, "Go." With that said Padme and Lago took off as quickly for the patient rooms.

"Um…" Lago started as they walked down the hall towards the elevator, "I'm Ian." He said holding his hand out to her.

"Padme." She responded, shaking his hand once before hitting the call button. The elevator appeared a minute later and she stepped inside, "I'll take 2436. You can take 2198, that okay with you?" she asked once it started moving.

Ian rubbed his hands together, "Um… I guess." He said with a laugh, "Wanna meet up by the elevators then? That way we can deliver the samples to the labs at the same time and get back to Shessaun about the same time as well."

She shook her head, "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"What if something is seriously wrong with them? The sooner we get the labs done and the sooner we get the results back, the sooner we can help. If we wait, they could die."

"Is everything a worst case scenario with you?" he asked as they stopped moving and the doors opened allowing them to step out.

Padme narrowed her eyes at him, "No, but it seems I take this job a bit more seriously than you." She turned down the hall and started walking away from him. She heard him scoff as he was left behind and Padme heaved a sigh. This was going to be a long shift.

[][][][]

Raising the glass to her lips, she threw her head back, taking the shot in one big gulp. Padme scrunched her eyes at the burning sensation of the vodka sliding down her throat. Sabe sat next to her and chuckled at face she made. "Maybe you should stick with wine." She said, "Shots really aren't your thing."

Padme shook her head as she returned the shot glass to the counter, "I know, but I needed this after today." She said, raising her hand to the bartender and ordered a glass of wine, "I was running all over the hospital doing labs with that Ian Lago guy, and he is just so…" Padme shook her head and took a sip of her wine.

Sabe shrugged, "I got assigned to the ER. They had me doing sutures all day."

"You're lucky. I'd rather do sutures than babysit Lago."

She laughed and shook her head, "He is kinda cute…" She said, "Ever think maybe he's flirting with you?"

Padme raised a brow at her, "I haven't dated since-"

"-Since Clovis, I know. Don't you think it's about time to give it a chance?"

She shook her head, "College was a good time to date." She said, "Now, not so much. We work more hours than most and we could be called in at any given moment. Not exactly something most guys would be into."

Sabe gave a shrug, "That's why you go for the guy who is in the same boat. That way they do get it."

Padme sighed and took another swallow of wine, "Maybe some other time. Right now, I just want to get through the year."

Sabe raised her glass, "I hear you. This year is going to suck."

She raised her glass in agreement. The first year as a surgical intern was always the hardest. She knew she most likely wouldn't see the inside of an OR except as an observer. She knew that she was more likely to do her resident's charting than she was to save someone's life. And yet that is what she has to do if she has any chance of being a surgeon. A month ago after graduation when she had been accepted into the intern program, her parents had told her she could come home at any time. That she would always have a place in the family business. But that was what they always said- a bitter reminder that they didn't understand what she wanted to do. They had been trying to get her to peruse any other career but this- something normal. But the fascination with how the body works, and the ways it can be healed had called to her. She wanted to be a doctor. And when the choice to apply for a surgical internship came up, she took it. She knew this year was going to push her to the breaking point. But she can't allow herself to fail, not only for herself, but also to show her parents she isn't built for a cozy little office, but for an OR.


	2. Chapter 1

I've been reading and rereading this chapter nonstop ever since I finished it and I had realized after I posted the last one that I really had no idea what to do with Ian Lago... I had considered taking it down and starting over, but I felt that introducing something like that would really help establish who Padme is at this point in her life- and introducing a sort of love interest worked.

Just to clarify, at this point in her life, Padme is 100% dedicated to her work. She has placed a lot of pressure on her to succeed for reasons that will be explained later and because of that, her love life is really at the bottom of her priorities.

Hope you like it!

-DFD

* * *

Chapter 1

The observation floor was packed with all the interns as they watched the first of their own performing an actual surgery. Padme smiled down at Sabe as she walked into the OR even with the surgical mask on her face, Padme could tell she was smiling from ear to ear with excitement. She came to stand over the body of the patient and took a breath as Valorum came to stand behind her. He had been the one to pick Sabe out of all the interns and his job at that moment was to help Sable when she needed it and to step in when necessary. Sabe looked up into the observation room and gave them a thumbs up, prompting a short cheer from the group before Valorum glared up at them and the cheering died. Padme watched as her hands twitched over the patient and watched as Valorum whispered some encouragement to her before she shook her head and called for the scalpel.

Around her she could hear the other interns whispering to one another as the surgery progressed, each one expressing their wonder at the thought that in a matter of months, this was going to be them. Padme paid close attention to how Sabe worked. Her attention to detail was one of her greatest assets. As children she had used that skill to become adept at mimicking her- copying her speech patterns and certain mannerisms that even she had not known she had. Padme recalled at one point they had even tried to switch places on their parents and it worked- at least on her parents that is. Now it seems her attention to detail is serving her in more useful ways. Over the intercom that transmitted what was being said in the OR Padme listened to how Sabe explained she was having trouble seeing into the body cavity before deciding that trying to clear the field would take too long. She reached inside and, as she was still learning, began to describe what she was feeling as she followed the parts she knew down to where she had to be.

Padme smiled as Sabe walked clamped the appendix. She noticed the girl sitting next to her stood and left. She had looked pale throughout most of the procedure and by the way her hand covered her mouth, it seemed she was no longer able to take it. Ian quickly filled the seat and the smile left her face just as fast. He smiled at her before turning back to the OR. "She's good." He commented, "Not as good as me, but good."

"And how would you know if you're any good?" She asked.

"My dad." He said, "He's a doctor too. I've been in hospitals my whole life."

Padme sighed, "And I imagine that's why you don't like grunt work."

He smiled at her, "Well that might be part of it." He admitted, "But its also because what can we possibly learn from running around like headless chickens? We're here to be surgeons. We are better suited for standing in ORs and learning that way. Not doing things that the nurses should do."

Padme nodded in response, now understanding part of the reason she didn't particularly like him too much. He was arrogant, entitled, and cocky- three of the things that reminded her too much of the types of people she had grown up with.

Ian sighed, "Listen, I get the feeling we probably got off on the wrong foot." He said, "I'm… I'm sorry." He said, his attention now fully on her.

She turned her head part way to meet his gaze, "It's alright." She said, "And I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I'm… not the most personable. This job is just really important. I can't afford to mess up."

"So you're one of those girls."

Her eyes narrow, "And what does that mean?"

He gives a shrug, "Career girls. The ones so focused on climbing the ladder of success they're blind to everything else. Nothing wrong with that," He covered, "Kinda hot even." He said with a smirk.

Padme raised a brow at him. Apparently Sabe was right about him flirting with her. And as nice as it is to feel wanted, dating a colleague is far from something she would deem appropriate, especially during her intern year when the fate of her future in the program is always teetering. She turns her head back to the OR and watches as Sabe stand there with the appendix clamped but not moving. She has the same look in her eye she always got during school when she was called on for an answer she didn't have. She doesn't know. Padme realized Sabe doesn't know what to do next. Looking around the observation floor, she hears the others whisper amongst themselves and it seems even they know she is lost. Turning back to the OR, she hears Valorum try to help over the intercom, trying to pull an answer from her. After several moments, he takes the clamp and the appendix from her and asks her to step aside as he finishes for her. Padme meets her friend's gaze and gives her a sympathetic smile.

"Sorry about your friend." Ian said as he stood up, "I'm going over to the Theed Brewery after work. If you two come, I'll buy you both drinks. She could probably use it right about now."

Padme nodded and watched as the room cleared out, leaving her alone to watch as her friend stood in the back of the OR, her disappointment evident.

[][][][]

Sabe sat at her kitchen counter, her face pressed firmly into the granite. Padme sipped at her tea as her friend cried, knowing anything she said right now would only make her cry more. "How could I have forgotten?" Her words were barely understandable between the sobs and the counter, "It was so simple! And to make matters worse I remembered it just after he took over. I'm stupid!"

Padme shook her head and patted her friend's back, "You did amazing up until that point." She said, "Most of the others wouldn't have gotten as far as you had."

Sabe scoffed, "You would have."

She gave a shrug, "Maybe. Or maybe I would have frozen on the spot. Point is everyone expects us to fail until we don't. Better to mess up now than later in the year when we should know better."

She lifted her head and rubbed her eye with the heel of her hand, "I still made a fool of myself."

"We're interns. We're the lowest of the low in the food chain. Next year we won't even remember this." Sabe sighed and reached for her own cup of tea, "I don't want to go to work tomorrow." She said, taking a small sip.

"Neither do I." Padme said, running her finger along the rim of her cup, "You were right about Ian." Sabe turned her head to meet her gaze, her eyes practically begging her for details, "If you want him, take him. I'm not interested."

Her friend groaned, "Padme… When did you decide to close your heart to men?" Padme glanced down at her cup and heard Sabe sigh, "Okay, you're not interested in Ian. So, tell me what exactly are you looking for?"

Padme gave a shrug, "I don't know. I guess I'll just know it when I see it."

[][][][]

Sitting behind the desk at the nurse's station, Padme tapped her pen lightly against the chart as she read and reread the information presented to her. This morning when she ran the labs on her patients, she had made the horrible mistake of mixing up the samples. The error resulted in her having to go back to the patient's rooms and explain the mix up and apologizing profusely for the mistake before Ian was brought in to take the samples and rerunning the tests. Safe to say Dr. Shessaun was not happy, which was why she was sitting there working on charts instead of watching the bowel transplant happening on the OR level.

Padme shook her head. "Two months." She mutters, "I've been here two months and somehow I make a huge mistake- on labs no less." Letting out a sharp breath, she glances at the clock and notes that the transplant was most likely almost over by now, which meant that her peers were going to be coming back very soon and the surgery was probably the one thing they were all going to be talking about. Padme prayed this shift would end soon if only to spare her talk of the one thing she missed out on, or at least yield to something more interesting than a transplant surgery, though changes of that happening was very unlikely. Looking back down at the chart in front of her, she fills out the information neatly.

True to her prediction, it was only a half hour later before she noticed some of the other interns coming back from the observation floor. Ian was among them and surprisingly so was Sabe. The two of them talked casually as they walked down the hall towards her. Ian leaned against the counter and Sabe leaned over to look at the chart Padme was working on, her head tilted to the side to make it easier to read before shrugging at it. "Did we miss anything?" Sabe asked.

She sighed, "Nothing." Padme answered, "Nothing except Mrs. Ninx keeps buzzing. She keeps complaining about the pillows, the sheets, the food, her room; it's driving me crazy."

Ian had to cover his mouth when he started to laugh, prompting Padme to narrow her eyes at him, "Sorry," He said, "Its just that… that's the reason most of the interns avoid this particular station if it can be helped." He let out a light laugh, "And you just willingly sat there for what? Three- four hours? It is pretty funny."

Padme is silent for several moments. They knew? They all knew and no one told her. She had brought the charts to this very station and had talked with Sabe a few moments just before the surgery and she hadn't said a word. "Why didn't anyone say anything?"

Sabe gave a shrug, "I thought you knew." She said, "I heard it from that one guy I told you about- the one with the accent that's hard to understand."

"The one who follows the attendings like a shadow?"

"That's the one."

Padme sighed, "I thought you said not to trust a word he says."

Ian folded his arms on the counter, "This was one of the rare times he was right. He had been responsible for checking her urine output last week and he told everyone he would have rather done a rectal exam on his dad."

She shook her head. She had heard that story, but she had not heard it was about Mrs. Ninx nor did she think his story was true. This day certainly was not going well at all.

Ian's pager went off a moment later. "Labs are back." He said, turning his attention to Sabe, "I'll catch you later." He said with a wink before walking off.

Standing from her seat, Padme leaned over the counter, "What was that?" She whispered.

"Hm? What was what?"

She rolled her eyes, "You know what I'm talking about."

Sabe sighed, "You did say you weren't interested. And he is rather cute. Don't tell me you changed your mind."

She shook her head, "Of course not. This job is too important to me."

"And it's not to me?"

"I didn't say that."

Sabe sighed, "Then what is the problem?"

"I didn't think you would act so quickly." She said.

Her friend gave a shrug and smiled at her, "I didn't either. But we ended up sitting next to each other at the surgery and he was… sweet. He told me he felt bad about what happened during my surgery and then he tried to get me to talk about you…" She sighed, "And I told him you really weren't interested- I didn't tell him why- but I did tell him to try his luck with someone else."

"And that someone happened to be you." She said, leaning forward to rest her head in her hand. It wasn't that she liked him- far from it in fact. But it had been nice to have someone pay attention to her- not because of her grades or because she was a Naberrie- but because of who she is. She would never have truly considered a relationship with him, but it had been nice to be seen.

"I'm sorry." Sabe said, "It just sorta happened." She said with a rueful smile.

"It's fine." She said, "This day just is not going my way at all."


	3. Chapter 2

Sorry for the late update! College starts up again this week and I had a lot of stuff to do before I went back and haven't had as much time as I wanted to work on stuff. Updates might come a little slower depending on course work and what not, but hopefully I can crack out an update or two every few weeks or so... No promises though!

Happy Reading!

-DFD

* * *

Chapter 2

The ER was unnaturally quiet compared to just a few hours ago. There had been a car accident where two people had been drag racing and crashed into a semi. Padme stifled yawn as she stretched her shoulders. She was stiff. Glancing at the clock it was well past four in the morning. She had worked since six in the morning the previous day and in two hours she would finally be off. Padme smiled as she thought about the hot bath that was waiting for her when she got home. Padme walked over to the ER desk and handed off the release for a patient to a nurse just as Sabe answered the ER phone. It figured that just as her shift was nearing its end, something else happened.

"Ambulance five minutes out." Sabe said as she hung up the phone. "Great." She muttered.

"Don't sound too excited." Padme commented, noting her friend's lack of enthusiasm.

She shrugged, "I'm just tired." She said, "Dating and working is not an easy feat my friend."

"And that's why I don't. Not now anyway." Padme said with a smile, "Later on, when we're second or third year residents it will be a lot easier to juggle."

Sabe groaned, "I'll be twenty-six by then! Our friends would already be onto their first kid by that point."

"Not all of them." Padme said as she pulled on a pair of gloves, "What exactly is coming in?"

She shrugged, "Just boys being boys."

"Something stupid?"

"Something stupid with knives."

Padme shook her head. In six months she has learned that humans are without a doubt the stupidest species to ever live. Where most people think everyone has common sense, the ER has showed her that common sense is more likely a trait only a select few possess.

The sound of a siren coming around the corner, alerted the two interns to the arrival of the ambulance. Padme and Sabe walked out the ER doors just as the rig pulled up and the doors opened. Laying down on the gurney was a man whose hand was tightly wrapped in gauzes that wound their way around his hand and the knife sticking out of it. He was smiling and kept insisting he was fine as they pushed him into the hospital. Behind him walked a tall brown haired man whose white shirt had spots of blood on the sleeves.

After transferring the reluctant man into one of the hospital beds, Padme began unwrapping the wounded hand as Sabe started filling out a chart and taking his vitals. The knife went through the heel of his palm and came straight out the other side. From where it was positioned, Padme knew there was a good chance he could lose some motor function.

"I told you, I'm fine." The patient said as Sabe took a look at the other cuts on his body.

"You don't look fine." Padme said, holding up his hand.

He scoffed, "Its only a flesh wound. I'll be fine."

The other man rolled his eyes, "You can stop the tough guy act any time." His friend said. The man on the bed just gave a shrug.

"You could lose the hand." Padme said, "The knife cuts through-"

"Between the median and ulnar nerves, through several carpal and metacarpal bones, and there is currently no bleeding because the knife is keeping it in." Sabe looked at Padme with a bewildered look. Whoever this guy is, he isn't the normal did-something-stupid type of guy they expect to walk into the ER. The man smirked at them, "I'm a medical student." He explained.

"Aren't you a little young?" Sabe asked, taking note that he didn't look older than nineteen.

He gave a shrug, "Yeah, but I graduated high school early and finished my undergrad in two years."

Padme shook her head as she looked back down at the knife hand. "Tell me if you can feel this." She said, running her fingers from the tip of his pinky down his palm.

"Yeah." He said, "I can also move that finger too." He said as he flexed the digit.

"Don't. It could shift the blade," She warned.

"I'm fine." He said again.

"Can you tell us your name?" Sabe asked.

He turned his head to her, "Anakin. Spelled A-N-A-…"

Padme momentarily forgot what she was doing when he said his name. She knew a boy called Anakin a long time ago. They met once on a family vacation when the car broke down. A sweet little boy who lived in the trailer park just across from the mechanic offered them a place to stay for the night. They had stayed up most of that night just talking and before she left, she gave him her email. Every few weeks or so, she received an email from him and every few weeks, she sent one to him. It was nice talking to him and she almost wished she had kept in touch better. But with high school and deciding she wanted to be a doctor, she lost what free time she did have to studying to make sure she got into the best school. He must have gotten into a similar situation as little by little his emails stopped as well. She hasn't thought about Anakin in years.

Her eyes shifted from the patient's hand and slowly followed his arm to his face. There was a resemblance, though it was hard to tell since the last time she saw him he had only been around ten years old. "Anakin?" Padme asked, "As in Anakin Skywalker?"

His eyes went wide as he turned his attention to her, "Yeah," He said, his sharp blue eyes squinting as he looked at her, "How did…?" his voice trails off as his piercing gaze tries to figure out who she is.

She smiles at him, "Padme Naberrie." She said.

The wide, surprised smile he gives her makes her broaden her own smile as he shakes his head, "I haven't heard from you since-"

"I know." She said, "I'm sorry, I got busy."

"I can see that."

Padme looks him up and down, "I can't believe its you." She said, "Little Ani, my goodness you've grown."

He smirked at her, "So have you- more beautiful I mean." He said, "And a doctor too, hot."

"Anakin, stop." His friend said, but Padme didn't mind.

She laughed and shook her head, "Now do you want to tell me about this." She lifted his hand up so he could see it.

"Alright." He sighed, "There's this old guy who lives a couple blocks from campus. Ben and I pass it when we go for a run-"

"Ben?"

"That would be me." His friend said, holding up a hand, "Ben Kenobi." He introduced.

"He's my roommate." Anakin explained, "Anyways, we aren't the only college kids that use that route, so apparently when someone got the smart idea to mess with the guy's lawn- and it is a good lawn too- he decides it is appropriate to just blame the first one who dares pass his house again." Anakin wiggles the fingers of his right hand, "And it just so happened I was the lucky winner."

Padme raised a brow at the story. Whoever this guy is, he sounds crazy and yet Anakin seems perfectly calm. "You do realize this counts as assault."

He gives a shrug, "He's an old guy and he was rightfully pissed about his lawn. It could have been worse."

Padme looked back down at his hand then over to his left arm where Sabe was stitching up the largest of the cuts, "I would like to take an x-ray to he certain where it is in the hand." She said, "Then depending on the damage you will most likely need surgery to make sure there isn't any nerve damage."

Anakin groaned but nodded his head, "Fine. But only if you're operating."

"I'm just an intern." Padme said.

He gave a shrug, "I trust you not to maim me."

[][][][]

After taking Anakin for x-rays and admitting him, they left him in the capable hands of the nurses to make sure he didn't pull the knife out himself. Padme walked down the hall with Sabe in search of . Sabe kept looking her way, an amused smile on her face that Padme could recognize even through her attempts to hide it. She knew it was because of Anakin. He was clearly flirting with her and Sabe probably found that they had met before extremely interesting, especially since she hadn't mentioned him before.

Padme sighed, "Alright, let get this over with."

Sabe's smile widened, "You know him? How? When?"

"Remember that vacation my family took when we were fourteen? The one where my dad worked the entire time and my mom spent the entire trip fuming over it? Car broke down on the way on the edge of some small town. Anakin lived across from the mechanic and he offered us a place to sleep since there wasn't a hotel nearby. We emailed for a couple years."

Sabe shook her head, "And now you find each other again. You know if Dorme was here-"

"Don't start." Padme groaned, "Dorme is a hopeless romantic. She would tell me 'its fate, we were destined to be together'."

She raised her hands in mock surrender, "Hey, I'm not a romantic at all." She said, "I'm more interested in the sex."

"Probably why you took Ian up on his offer." Padme said with a sly smile of her own.

Sabe returned it, "Yes. And it's why you should take Anakin up on his."

She shook her head; "He's too young for me."

"He's over eighteen as far as I'm concerned that is all that matters. And he's giving you the green so go for it." Sabe took Padme by the shoulders and pushed her back against a wall, "You're not up for a relationship; I get that. But come on! Two hot guys are into you. You turned one down, don't turn this one down. Besides, this one is way hotter." She released her hold on Padme after a moment and they continued to walk in silence.

They found Shessaun on the intensive care unit, finishing up a post-op and waited outside for her. The way she interacted with patients was the complete opposite of how she interacted with everyone else in the hospital. She smiled at the patients and made jokes with them, she was patient with them and took the time to make sure they understood what was happening. Padme was always surprised to see this cold stoic woman acting this way, and it made her wonder which was the real her. After a few minutes she left the room and the smile she had worn for the patient vanished, replaced once more with the indifferent look they were used to.

Padme held out the scans for her, "ER patient. Male, twenty years old, has a knife stuck in his hand." She explained. Shessaun pulled out the scans and held them up to the light to see them.

"Course of action?" She asked.

Padme and Sabe exchanged looks, "We think surgery is needed to remove the knife." Padme said, "It is extremely close to the median nerve and it has fractured two of the carpal bones so we should get ortho to repair that as well."

Shessaun was silent for several moments as she looked through each of the scans. Padme was nervous that perhaps she had said something wrong, as more often than not if she was this silent she is waiting for them to make a correction. But Padme can't think of another course of action that is better than what she has said. There is no other way to ensure Anakin has complete function of his hand. She shifted nervously as Shessaun directed her attention back to her.

"Good." She said, "But ortho is the least of my worries. The bones will heal and they won't fuse so long as he follows all post-op instructions. So instead have neuro send someone to ensure the nerves are okay." She handed the scans back to her, "Have them schedule it as soon as possible. I don't trust him not to try and pull it out himself."

[][][][]

By the time Padme found her way to Anakin's room after making sure his surgery was scheduled and taking care of some matters for other patients, she had found that the nurses had to restrain his arm to make sure he wouldn't pull the knife. A vertical sling kept the right arm immobile while a soft velco cuff kept his left hand down low enough that he couldn't reach for the knife. He smiled at her as she entered the room.

"Will I live?" He asked.

"If you can last an hour without touching that knife, yes." She said crossing her arms over her chest in a manner she hoped was intimidating but instead resulted in him laughing. Padme shook her head, "You must not be that good of a medical student."

"Actually I'm pretty impressive." He said, "I graduate next year."

Padme raised a brow at his words, "You're twenty."

"Graduated high school and college early." He said, "Wasn't easy, but it was worth it."

"You're crazy." She said. Padme remembered how hard it had been for her to finish high school when she was seventeen like everyone else. It was hard to imagine doing it any earlier. Add college to that mix and she can't imagine ever wanting to do that- and he had. "So what then?" She asked, coming to stand at the foot of the bed, leaning on the tray table with a pitcher of water perched on top.

He smiled, "What do you think? Where do prospective surgeons go after medical school?"

Her eyes went wide, "You want to be a surgeon. _You_?"

"Everyone said I'd never make it to medical school, now that I'm almost out, they think I'm going to be some third-rate doctor in the middle of nowhere." Anakin shrugged, "So I figured I'd become a surgeon. That's the best anyone can do, short of being the surgeon general."

That sounded like something he would do. Padme remembered how his emails often said he wanted to be the best at whatever it was he was into at the time. She remembered how the lawn in front of his trailer had been littered with car parts and other such trinkets with half finished machines leaning against the trailer. Over the time they had emailed, he would occasionally send her pictures of the engines and machines he had been working on. He had wanted to be a mechanic back then, not only that he wanted to be the best mechanic. Now that she thought about it, the last email she had gotten from him wasn't too long ago- maybe six years ago- and if she recalls correctly, he was still working on engines. She could easily see him wanting to be an engineer instead of a simple mechanic; and she couldn't help but wonder what had made him change his mind so drastically. Was that too personal a question? Padme shook her head; it wasn't any of her business. "They should be finishing up in the OR by now, ready to get that knife out of your hand?" She asked.

He smiled again at her, "Are you ready to pull it out?"

"Yes. But I don't think they'll let me."

"Not even if I demand that you do?"

She shook her head, "We do what's best for the patient, and letting an intern mess with something so delicate is not what's best for the patient."

"Perhaps, but you're going to be in there alone at some point, dealing with something like this and isn't it better to get an early start?"

"Yes." She said, "But only when we're ready."

Anakin shook his head, "You're ready now. They just can't see it."

Padme raised a brow at him, "Is that your expert opinion?"

"Yes." He said, "You have the confidence, the knowledge and the determination to do it, you just lack the experience. And what better experience than the guy willingly telling you to just pull the thing out?"

Padme shook her head; "Lets just get you down to the OR."


End file.
